Terms of Reference

AIHW National Advisory Committee on Maternal Mortality (NACMM)

A: Advise the National Perinatal Statistics Unit on the development and preparation of the Maternal Deaths in Australia report 2003–2005, including:

1. Advising and assisting on the collation of maternal mortality data for deaths in the period 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2005 from State and Territory maternal mortality committees.
2. Providing clinical, epidemiological and statistical expertise in the assessment of causes of and trends in maternal deaths in Australia.
3. Providing a subcommittee to work closely with NPSU in the categorisation of the data received from State Committees.
4. Participating, prior to publication, in the development of a brief commentary on the statistical findings of the draft report. If possible, to advise on the implications of the findings to maternity care.
5. Reviewing the draft Maternal Deaths in Australia report before publication by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
6. Providing clinical expertise in relation to enquiries regarding the report.

B: Advise the AIHW National Perinatal Statistics Unit and the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care on the future of the collection, in particular:

1. The relationship of the collection to other processes, reports and collections such as the National Hospital Morbidity Database, clinical incident reporting systems, the proposed core maternity indicators, and the National Perinatal Data Collection.
2. The key audiences for the information in the Maternal Deaths in Australia 2003–05 report and their uses of it.
3. Methods of ensuring that safety and quality implications of maternal deaths are recognised by the use of:
   • appropriate analysis and categorisation (eg contributing factors)
   • most effective methods of feeding back into the system and to those who can implement change.
4. The most appropriate organisation and potential funder of the collection on a long-term basis.

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AIHW National Advisory Committee on Maternal Mortality (NACMM) - Classification Subcommittee

To review and classify cases for compilation in the National Maternal Death Database and to assist with the preparation of the report.

1. To work closely with NPSU in the classification of the data received from State Committees.
2. To review the draft Maternal Deaths in Australia report before publication by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
3. To provide clinical and epidemiological expertise in the assessment of causes of and trends in maternal deaths in Australia, in conjunction with members from the Education and Training Subcommittee.

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AIHW National Advisory Committee on Maternal Mortality (NACMM) - Education and Training Subcommittee

1. To provide clinical, epidemiological and statistical expertise in the assessment of causes of and trends in maternal deaths in Australia, in conjunction with members from the Classification Subcommittee.
2. To provide brief commentary on the statistical findings regarding these trends, suitable for publication in peer-review journals.
3. To undertake consultation regarding and development of recommendations re the role of education and training in the future maternal deaths/morbidity collection.

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AIHW National Advisory Committee on Maternal Mortality (NACMM) - ‘Options’ Subcommittee

To advise the AIHW National Perinatal Statistics Unit and the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care on the future of the collection, in particular:

1. The relationship of the collection to other processes, reports and data collections
2. Methods of ensuring that safety and quality implications of maternal deaths are recognised by the use of:
   • appropriate analysis and categorisation (eg contributing factors);
   • most effective methods of feeding back into the Health Care System and to those who can implement change.
3. The role of Maternal Morbidity surveillance and the development of systems to investigate and review maternal morbidity
4. The most appropriate host organisation and potential funder of the collection on a long-term basis.

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